EPL Week 34 Scores
Home Score Away Norwich 0-3 Sunderland Everton 1-1 Southampton Manchester United 1-0 Aston Villa Newcastle 3-0 Swansea West Brom 0-1 Watford Chelsea 0-3 Manchester City Leicester City 2-2 West Ham Bournemouth 1-2 Liverpool Arsenal 1-1 Crystal Palace Stoke City 0-4 Tottenham
Aston Villa relegated after lone goal loss to Man United
With just 4 matches to the end of the 2015/16 English Premier League season, Aston confirmed their relegation to the Championship after picking up a 1-0 loss against Manchester United at Old Trafford, a ninth consecutive loss that left them 15 points adrift of safety and mathematically insolvent in the face of survival after almost 30 years of top tier soccer.
New Newcastle Boss, Rafael Benitez finally got his first victory after taking charge, a 3-0 drubbing over visiting Swansea to bolster their chances of staying off relegation as they moved within 3points of the first relegation spot and Sunderland climbed to within a point of safety by thumping relegation rivals Norwich at Carrow Road by 3 goals to nothing.
Also on Saturday, Sadio Mane’s equalizer gave Southampton a well-deserved point at Everton, but then the tie slowed down their hopes for a European spot, Heurelho Gomes played hero at West Brom, saving 2 penalty kicks from Saido Berahino as Watford finally ended a six game non-winning skid and Sergio Aguero’s hat-trick against reigning PL Champions – Chelsea - was enough to move City into third on Saturday, closer to securing a Champions League spot, but idle Arsenal may have something to say about that on Sunday. The defeat was a second straight for Chelsea under interim boss Guus Hiddink.On Sunday, Leonardo Ulloa's injury-time penalty salvaged a point for PL leaders – Leicester City – in dramatic style as they narrowly escaped losing at home to West Ham in a controversial encounter that saw both sides draw level from the spot for a final 2-2 tie.
Roberto Firmino and Daniel Sturridge struck as Liverpool defeated Bournemouth 2-1 on Sunday and Arsenal missed out at home on the chance to go third on the PL log, courtesy of Yannick Bolasie 81st minute leveler.
And on Monday night, second placed title contenders - Tottenham Spurs - kept up the pressure on Leicester City with a 4-0 thumping of Stoke City to reduce the gap to 5points.
Norwich 0-3 Sunderland
Sunderland boosted their Premier League survival hopes with a crucial 3-0 victory over relegation rivals Norwich at Carrow Road.
Trailing the hosts by four points at the start of the day, Sunderland took the lead in the 41st minute when Fabio Borini converted from the spot after being brought down in the penalty area by Andre Wisdom.
Jermain Defoe doubled his side's advantage in the 53rd minute, converting Borini's cross after an error from Sebastien Bassong before Duncan Watmore rounded off the scoring in injury time.
Victory sees 18th-placed Sunderland move to within a point of Norwich in 17th with a game in hand
Everton 1-1 Southampton
Southampton's hopes of a European spot suffered a setback as they were held to a draw at Everton.
The visitors went close when a Shane Long header and a Dusan Tadic left-foot shot came off the woodwork.
However, centre-back Ramiro Funes Mori gave the home side the lead against the run of play with a deflected shot off Ryan Bertrand
Southampton equalised when Sadio Mane swept in a shot and had to settle for a point despite plenty of pressure.
The result leaves Roberto Martinez's side in the bottom half without a win in six games in the Premier League, while Southampton stay seventh.
Manchester United 1-0 Aston Villa
Aston Villa have been relegated to English football's second tier for the first time since 1987 after defeat at Manchester United.
Marcus Rashford's seventh goal of the season, turning in Antonio Valencia's low cross on 32 minutes, proved the winner in Villa's 24th defeat of the season, which leaves them an insurmountable 15 points short of safety with four games left.
Villa were second best for much of the game, although Rudy Gestede's volley did hit a post late on. It was a ninth straight loss for the visitors and left them 15 points from safety with only four matches left.
The West Midlands club end their 28-year stay in the top-flight with one of the poorest campaigns from any Premier League side - and they went out with a wimper.
United took sole possession of the fifth spot on 56points.
Newcastle 3-0 Swansea
Rafa Benitez picks first win with relegation threatened Newcastle
Newcastle claimed a first win under Rafael Benitez as they overcame Swansea to bolster their chances of Premier League survival.
Jamaal Lascelles headed in from a corner to put Newcastle in front towards the end of an edgy first half.
Ashley Williams and Jefferson Montero missed chances as the Swans dominated after the break, but Moussa Sissoko and Andros Townsend struck late goals.
Newcastle are now three points adrift of safety, while Swansea drop to 15th.
West Brom 0-1 Watford
Saido Berahino missed two second-half penalties as Watford hung on for a narrow win against West Brom at The Hawthorns.
Heurelho Gomes guessed correctly to save both penalties from Berahino in the 67th and 87th minutes.
Ben Watson got the FA Cup semi-finalists' winner, volleying home a near-post corner in the first half.
The result moves Watford above West Brom into 12th on 41 points, 11 points clear of the relegation zone.
Chelsea 0-3 Manchester city
Sergio Aguero lays a hat-trick on Chelsea
A Sergio Aguero hat-trick moved Manchester City closer to securing Champions League football next season with victory at 10-man Chelsea.
City profited from slick break-aways, the first goal arriving when Kevin De Bruyne fed Aguero, who fired in.
Again De Bruyne led a clinical counter after the break, finding Samir Nasri, who put Aguero clear to finish smartly.
Thibaut Courtois was sent off for fouling Fernandinho, allowing Aguero to whip home his third from the spot.
Chelsea remain 10th on 44points with the loss.
Leicester City 2-2 West Ham
Leicester City vs West Ham 2 2 Alll goals & Highlights 17/4/2016
Leonardo Ulloa's injury-time penalty rescued a point for Leicester in a controversial encounter with West Ham.The Foxes' title hopes looked to be derailed by two West Ham goals in the last 10 minutes as substitute Andy Carroll converted a controversial penalty (84) to end Leicester's run of 574 minutes without conceding a league goal and Aaron Cresswell looked to have opened the door for the Foxes' title rivals - Tottenham Spurs - with a stunning left-footed screamer two minutes later.
Jamie Vardy's crisp finish from a lightning break gave Leicester the lead on 18 minutes - but he was then sent off after getting a second yellow card for diving when he tangled with Angelo Ogbonna early in the second half.
As the game went into injury time, Referee Moss produced another controversial decision when he pointed to the spot once more after Carroll made the merest contact with Jeff Schlupp.
Leonardo Ulloa converted to earn his side a vital point as they went up 8points on title rivals Tottenham Spurs who are set to take on Stoke city on Monday at the Britannia Stadium. Leicester will be without Vardy for next weekend's home game with Swansea.
Bournemouth 1-2 Liverpool
An experimental Liverpool side won at Bournemouth to record a third consecutive victory in all competitions.
Roberto Firmino's rebound and Daniel Sturridge's header gave the visitors a commanding 2-0 lead at half-time.
Bournemouth rallied after the break but Joshua King's stoppage-time strike came too late for a comeback.
The result lifts Liverpool up to eighth place in the Premier League table, while the Cherries remain 13th.
Arsenal 1-1 Crystal Palace
Yannick Bolasie struck late for Crystal Palace to secure a draw in a match which Arsenal completely dominated.
Arsenal should have won comfortably to leapfrog Manchester City into third but instead they remain fourth in a nervy race for a Champions League spot.
Alexis Sanchez headed in Danny Welbeck's chip to give the Gunners the lead but they lacked a killer instinct to put the result beyond doubt.
Bolasie then struck from distance (81), beating Petr Cech at his near post.
The Congolese forward's equaliser alarmingly sucked the energy out of Arsenal and it was their London rivals who seemed more likely to score in the dying minutes.
Palace remain 16th on the log, 9 clear points off the first relegation spot.
Monday Night Football
Stoke City 0-4 Tottenham
Harry Kane and Dele Alli struck twice each as Tottenham beat Stoke 4-0 at the Britannia Stadium on Monday to move within five points of Premier League leaders Leicester.
Kane gave Spurs the perfect start in the ninth-minute, linking up with Mousa Dembele before finding the bottom corner.
The visitors had to wait until the 67th minute to double their advantage as Alli chipped home, but Kane quickly added a third as Tottenham turned on the style.
And Alli put the icing on the cake with a measured volley eight minutes from time to put the pressure back on Leicester after they dropped points against West Ham on Super Sunday.
The win moves Mauricio Pochettino's side onto 68 points, five behind the league leaders with four games to play.
Compiled by Abena Alice with match day results from eurosports, skysports and BBC
EPL Week 34 Roundup: A Villa relegated, Sergio Aguero hat-trick sinks Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, Rafa gets first win and Sunderland keeps hope alive
Typography
- Smaller Small Medium Big Bigger
- Default Helvetica Segoe Georgia Times
- Reading Mode